Sunday, 29 January 2012

Home sweet home

I'm back! and it's so good to be home. Elizabeth calls it an unusual love affair and I think she's right. I've been swimming in pools with bridges, islands, palm trees and bars but none of them compare to Tooting, even if the water was a little warmer.

I saw Carl and Kate on my way in. Carl was finding it more difficult than he thought to get back into the water after a twelve day break (see here) . This didn't bode well, a sixteen day absence is difficult in winter. The water was 4ºC but it wasn't frosty and a pale winter sun was trying to push though the clouds.
I told Jonathan I'd just try two, dipping my feet in didn't feel too bad. I took a lung full of air and plunged in. This is the danger point, if the water shocks you it's hard to carry on. The left side of my goggles filled with water but I didn't want to stop and adjust it, I had to keep going. It was actually alright! I had to count my stroke and couldn't relax as much as I wanted but I somehow seemed to manage. Two became four and then six. I feared then I was enjoying it too much so very pink skinned I rushed off to the sauna.

It didn't take long to bounce back in the sauna heat, and was nice not to be rushed and have a good chat with old and new faces alike. Not sure who the wetsuiter was but I liked the way it was laid out on the ground. The forecast is for it to get colder so I feel I made a good start at getting back into the water.